Further Reading for Transforming South American soy production through innovation supply chain solutions

5.1 Companies and governments in importing countries have stepped up their commitments to eliminate deforestation in their supply chains.

Below we provide an overview of the most significant public-private initiatives that are helping to transform where and how soy is produced in South America and halt soy-related destruction of natural habitats. They have brought together numerous companies and governments across commodity sectors to collaborate on the elimination of deforestation from supply chains. Some of these initiatives set ambitious targets for 2020. These need to be revised in light of evidence that they have not yet been achieved.

New York Declaration on Forests

The New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) is a non-legally binding political declaration where for the first time, world leaders endorsed a global timeline to cut natural forest loss in half by 2020, and strive to end it by 2030. Goal 2 of the declaration aims to support the private sector in eliminating deforestation from commodity supply chains, including soy, palm oil, beef, and timber by 2020. It was signed in 2014 by governments, companies, indigenous people’s organizations, and civil society organizations. By 2019, the NYDF had over 200 endorsers: 40 governments, 20 sub-national governments, 57 multi-national companies, 16 groups representing indigenous communities and 58 non-governmental organizations.

Annual assessments reflect on progress and identify areas for improvement for a single goal. The 2019 assessment of Goal 2 found that the number of corporate commitments to eliminate commodity-related soy has barely increased in the last two years, the number of soy commitments remains low, and reporting on progress by companies with commitments is inadequate and impedes monitoring of progress. It also found that government efforts in producer and consumer countries are limited and mainly in the form of high-level policies and pledges.

A 2019 assessment of progress, covering the first 5 years of the NYDF, reported that progress towards goals has been limited and achievement of targets set for 2020 is likely to be impossible. The report calls for more coordinated, sector-wide action on a larger-scale than is currently happening.

The Amsterdam Declaration

The Amsterdam Declaration, a non-legally binding political commitment signed in 2015, aims to achieve fully sustainable and deforestation-free agro-commodity supply chains in Europe by 2020. To date, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy and France have signed. The Declaration is intended to stimulate private sector commitment and progress on agricultural commodities associated with deforestation (such as palm oil, soy and cocoa) for which Europe has a significant market share. By expanding market demand for sustainable commodities in the signatory European countries, the Declaration aims to incentivise sustainable production in producer countries.

The programme’s main focus is supporting the development of Forest Partnerships between private sector companies, public sector actors and the communities that depend on forests for their livelihoods to develop, test and scale-up proposals for sustainable land use through a combination of grants and technical assistance.

Consumer Goods Forum

The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is a global industry network that brings together the CEOs and senior management of some 400 retailers, manufacturers, service providers, and other stakeholders across 70 countries. Its member companies have combined sales of EUR $3.5 trillion and directly employ nearly 10 million people. The CGF aims to encourage and drive positive change across the consumer goods industry.

In 2010, The Consumer Goods Forum approved a broad resolution to achieve zero net deforestation in soy, cattle, palm oil, and timber supply chains by 2020. In the Deforestation Resolution, the CGF pledged to mobilize resources within their respective businesses to help achieve zero net deforestation by 2020.^5.13 Following the 2010 Deforestation Resolution, the CGF developed tools to guide companies in addressing deforestation in soy supply chains. The Sustainable Soy Sourcing Guidelines provide recommendations for how to implement and verify deforestation-free commitments. The CGF Soy Ladder Framework helps companies understand how much of their soy may be linked to deforestation.

Tropical Forest Alliance

The TFA 2020 was founded as a partnership between the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) and the United States government in 2012, after the Consumer Goods Forum committed to zero net deforestation by 2020. It has evolved into a global public-private partnership in which partners take voluntary actions, individually and in combination, to reduce the tropical deforestation associated with the sourcing of commodities such as soy, beef, palm oil, and paper and pulp. The Alliance provides opportunities for cross-sector collaboration based on a common understanding of the barriers and opportunities linked to deforestation-free supply chains.

Current partners include the Governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, and the Netherlands, the Consumer Goods Forum, NGOs including Conservation International, Forest Trends, Global Canopy Programme, National Wildlife Federation, Rainforest Alliance, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, and many others. A complete list of TFA 2020 members can be found, here.

The Roundtable on Sustainable Soy

The Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS) is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to promote responsible throughout the soy value chain globally, in production, processing and trading. It brings together over 200 members representing industry, producers, retailers, civil society, among other organizations. The RTRS, established in 2006, provides a forum to develop standards for sustainable soy production, which address issues around social equitability, economic feasibility and environmental soundness.

The RTRS has developed a certification scheme verifying that soy, as raw material or as a by-product, is produced using processes that are environmentally sustainable, socially adequate and economically viable. Certification is valid for 5 years with annual surveillance audits. RTRS certification is considered “gold standard” due to the robust set of social, economic and environmental criteria. Close to 4 million tons of RTRS certified soy entered the market in 2017. But uptake of the scheme remains relatively low. The total market coverage in Brazil, for example, is less than 1%.

ProTerra Standard

Developed by the ProTerra Foundation, the ProTerra Certification Programme is a key certification schemes in the context of tropical deforestation related to the expansion of soy. It was developed by the global certification body Cert-ID in 2006 as an extension to the already existing Basel Criteria for Responsible Soy Production. Revised in 2014, the Standard covers important issues relating to environmental sustainability and social responsibility in large-scale production of agricultural commodities, including the protection of the Amazon and other High Conservation Value Areas; good labor practices, including workplace safety; protection of the rights of communities, indigenous people, and smallholders; good agricultural practices; and rigorous Non-GMO requirements.

The French Corporate Duty of Vigilance Law

Passed in 2017, the French corporate duty of vigilance law establishes a legally-binding obligation for French companies to identity and prevent adverse human rights and environmental impacts resulting from their own activities, activities of companies they control, and from activities of their subcontractors and suppliers. The law requires companies covered by the law to establish, publish and implement a vigilance plan that includes appropriate measures to identity and prevent serious infringements to human and environmental rights.

Chinese Sustainable Meat Declaration

In October 2017, the China Meat Association and 64 Chinese company members, together with the World Wildlife Fund, announced the Chinese Sustainable Meat Declaration. The declaration states: “players in [the] China meat industry jointly declare our commitments and calling to other stakeholders for concerted efforts towards promoting sustainable meat production, trade and consumption.”

Three of the eight pillars in the declaration are directly related to efforts to reduce deforestation related to animal feed:

move to conserve nature and resources by avoiding land degradation, deforestation and conversion of natural vegetation in the livestock production and feed value chains;
improve traceability and transparency in supply chain; and
strengthen multi-stakeholder dialogue and build consensus around dissemination, sharing and extension of sustainability concepts, best practices and lessons learnt in meat production management.

5.2 EU legislation will make mandatory due diligence the legal standard of care for businesses operating in the EU

In July 2019, the European Union released a Communication on “Stepping up EU Action against Deforestation and Forest Degradation”. It recommended an assessment of regulatory measures to “ensure a level playing field and a common understanding of deforestation-free supply chains, in order to increase supply-chain transparency and minimize the risk of deforestation and degradation associated with commodity imports in the EU.” The Communication set out a framework with five priorities that include reducing the EU’s consumption footprint on land, and encouraging the consumption of products from deforestation-free supply chains in the EU. It also endorsed partnerships between producer and consumer countries, businesses, and civil society to deliver on these commitments. To achieve these priorities, the Communication proposed concrete actions, including a multi-stakeholder dialogue with member states on deforestation, stronger standards and certification to promote deforestation-free commodities, and developing and implementing incentive mechanisms for smallholder farmers

Following the Communication, the EU Commission hosted an International Conference on Forests for Biodiversity and Climate in February 2020, and has since stated that it will draft legislation for 2021 that makes mandatory due diligence the legal standard of care for businesses operating in the EU. If passed, the law will require companies to carry out ongoing, context-specific, due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for actual or potential human rights and environmental impacts in their own operations and supply or value chain.

This proposed change in regulation comes after an expansive study and public comment period to understand whether voluntary guidance or mandatory due diligence would have greater impact. The majority of study respondents (from industry, civil society, and the general public) favored mandatory due diligence because they felt it would create a level playing field for businesses, while having minimal impact on increasing competition. Further, the respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the regulation should be a general cross-sectoral regulation that considers each sector’s specifications, and company size for specific cases.

5.3 Innovative analytical tools can enhance the monitoring and effectiveness of supply chain agreements

The following tools, designed to aid supply chain transparency and monitoring, can help to enhance the effectiveness of supply chain agreements.

The Accountability Framework initiative (Afi)

The Accountability Framework provides a common set of norms and guidelines for companies and their service providers working to address deforestation, ecosystem conversion, and human rights violations. A set of Core Principles form the foundation of the Framework. Common Definitions ensure that companies set and apply commitments using accepted and appropriate terminology. Operational Guidance accompanying the Principles provides supporting detail on putting commitments into practice. The framework was developed by a diverse coalition of conservation and human rights NGOs from around the world, in close consultation with the private sector and other key stakeholders, to establish a harmonized global reference that is applicable across commodities and regions.

Agroideal

Agroidealis a groundbreaking initiative in which companies, NGOs, banks and research institutions have joined efforts to develop a free online territorial intelligence system to support decision-making in the soy sector. The system assesses risks associated with the expansion of cropland areas, searching for regions of high economic benefit and productivity, coupled with a low socio-environmental impact. It offers access to unprecedented information not published elsewhere to promote use of previously disturbed areas for expansion of soy. Agroideal is a designed to enable public officials, sector associations, financial institutions, research institutions, and NGO to access knowledge of their territory and promote its sustainable development.

Global Forest Watch Pro

Global Forest Watch Pro was designed with industry and financial institutions and data companies to help various stakeholders in supply chains to use geospatial data to reduce deforestation in commodity supply chains. The free online application can monitor and track changes over time at farms, supply sheds or jurisdictions, and demonstrate compliance with commitments and policies. It provides a common approach to quantifying and managing progress towards deforestation for different actors throughout complex supply chains: producers can monitor their progress towards zero deforestation and share the information with buyers; bankers can monitor and assess risk in their investment portfolios; and traders and manufacturers can assess deforestation risk throughout their supply chain back to origin.

Mapbiomas

The Brazilian Annual Land Use and Land Cover Mapping Project (Mapbiomas) is the most sophisticated monitoring system currently available for land use change in all habitat types in Brazil. It uses the Google Earth Engine platform and its cloud processing and automated classifier capabilities to generate annual land use and land cover time series data since 1985, using a fast, reliable and low-cost methodology. It provides publicly available satellite images, maps and statistics on the current status and changes over time in land use and cover in all key biomes in Brazil.

Trase

Trase uses publicly available data to increase transparency in the supply chains of key agricultural commodities from tropical forest regions. It maps the links from consumer countries back to places of production, via trading companies, showing the agricultural conditions, and specific environmental and social risks, for key commodity exports. Trase provides data at scale, and free-of-charge, comprehensively mapping supply chains for key commodities from entire countries and regions, allowing companies, governments, investors and others to understand risk throughout their complex supply chains, and identify opportunities for more sustainable production.

Zero Deforestation Soy